It also features Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bosé, Alida Valli, Udo Kier, and Joan Bennett, in her final film role.

Suspiria has received a positive response from critics for its visual and stylistic flair, use of vibrant colors and its score by Argento and the progressive rock band Goblin.

Suzy Bannion, a young American ballet student, arrives in Freiburg, West Germany, to study at the co-ed Tanz Akademie, a prestigious dance school.

When she regains consciousness, Suzy learns that Olga has thrown her out of her apartment, forcing her to live at the school with Sara in the room next door.

One night, maggots fall from the ceilings of the students' rooms due to a shipment of spoiled food in the attic, forcing them to sleep in one of the dance studios.

The next day, the school's blind pianist, Daniel, is abruptly fired by Miss Tanner when his German Shepherd bites Albert.

Suzy enters the corridor and finds the academy's instructors, led by Madame Blanc, plotting her demise in the form of a human sacrifice.

When flashes of lightning inadvertently reveal Markos's silhouette, Suzy impales her through the neck with one of the peacock's broken glass quills.

[3][4] Critic Maitland McDonagh notes: "In Argento's reading [of the material], the three mothers generate/inhabit a cinematic world informed by Jungian archetypal imagery, each holding sway over a particular city.

[6] He became fascinated by the "Magic Triangle", a point where the countries of France, Germany, and Switzerland meet; this is where Rudolf Steiner, a controversial social reformer and occultist, founded an anthroposophic community.

[9] Using Nicolodi's core ideas, Argento helped co-write the screenplay, which he chose to set at a dance academy in Freiburg im Breisgau, near the German borders with Switzerland and France.

[6] The majority of Suspiria was shot at De Paoli studios in Rome, where key exterior sets (including the façade of the academy) were constructed.

[6] Suspiria is noteworthy for several stylistic flourishes that have become Argento trademarks, particularly the use of set-piece structures that allow the camera to linger on pronounced visual elements.

Commenting on the film's lush colors, Argento said: We were trying to reproduce the colour of Walt Disney's Snow White; it has been said from the beginning that Technicolor lacked subdued shades, [and] was without nuances—like cut-out cartoons.

[14]The imbibition process, used for The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Gone with the Wind (1939), is much more vivid in its color rendition than emulsion-based release prints, therefore enhancing the nightmarish qualities of the film Argento intended to evoke.

[18] 20th Century Fox acquired the American distribution rights;[19] due to its violent content, they were hesitant to release Suspiria, but eventually premiered the film in July 1977 through a shell company, International Classics.

[22] Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote a mixed review, saying the film had "slender charms, though they will most assuredly be lost on viewers who are squeamish.

"[23] The Los Angeles Times's Kevin Thomas wrote that the film was "consistently suspenseful and diverting" despite being "marred by stilted, poorly dubbed English dialogue".

"[25] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune expressed similar sentiments, criticizing Harper's role to being "reduced to cowering in corners" and "costumed to look much younger than her years"; while praising Argento's "visually stylish" direction, he felt that Suspiria was inferior to his directorial debut The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) and "plays like a weak imitation of The Exorcist (1973)".

[21] Like Siskel, Bruce McCabe of The Boston Globe likened the film to The Exorcist and The Sentinel (1977), ultimately deeming it "a fitful, uneven piece of work too often more uncontrolled than the hysteria it's trying to create.

"[26] Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader gave a favorable review, claiming that "Argento works so hard for his effects—throwing around shock cuts, colored lights and peculiar camera angles—that it would be impolite not to be a little frightened".

[28] Bob Keaton of the Fort Lauderdale News praised the film's "well-crafted plot", likening elements of it to the works of Edgar Allan Poe, adding: "For the seekers of superficially devilish thrills, Suspiria is just the thing.

[37] AllMovie called it "one of the most striking assaults on the senses ever to be committed to celluloid ... this unrelenting tale of the supernatural was—and likely still is—the closest a filmmaker has come to capturing a nightmare on film.

The website's critical consensus states: "The blood pours freely in Argento's classic Suspiria, a giallo horror as grandiose and glossy as it is gory.

The American death metal band Infester included a sample from the film in their song, "Chamber of Reunion", from their album To the Depths, In Degradation (1994).

[citation needed] In 1991, the California-based instrumental band Gargamel recorded a version of the Suspiria theme featuring dulcimer and tape manipulations amongst their covers of horror film soundtrack compositions.

It was originally broadcast in 1978 on the ABC's "youth" radio station 2JJ aka Double Jay (the Sydney-based AM-band precursor to the current Triple J network).

[citation needed] In books by Simon R. Green, mentions are often made of a "Black Forest Dance Academy" in Germany, a place where witches and Satanists gather, a possible reference to Suspiria.

[citation needed] In March 2020, a new score, featuring members of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard alongside other Melbourne musicians, was performed live with a screening of the film.

[77] Guadagnino's version is set in Berlin circa 1977 (the year in which Argento's film was released), with a thematic focus on "the uncompromising force of motherhood".